


A Lion Alone

by visenya__v



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: One Shot, Queen Cersei Lannister, between season 7 and 8, brief mentions of past character deaths, mentions of past twincest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-24
Updated: 2019-04-24
Packaged: 2020-01-25 20:32:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18582064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/visenya__v/pseuds/visenya__v
Summary: Her brother was a traitor now, and traitors deserve no mercy from the queen.After Jaime abandons his sister in favor of helping the North, Cersei is left with only thoughts of her brother and vengeance to keep her company in the Red Keep.





	A Lion Alone

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written anything since season 5 I think? Season 8 just has me feeling some type of way so I had to write something, and I wanted to try writing from Cersei's perspective for some reason.

It had been a couple weeks since her brother had abandoned her, had betrayed her. Cersei wondered if the traitor had made it to Winterfell yet. It would be a much faster journey than his last to the North; they'd been bogged down with miles of supply wagons and wheelhouses for the royal family and their household. Jaime had spent much of the journey either on horse just outside the queen's wheelhouse or keeping her company inside. He would listen to his sister complain about amenities at the various castles they stopped at, and then when she tired of complaining, he'd occupy her mouth with other things.

 

Cersei pulled her thoughts away from that fateful trip. Winterfell and the Starks had almost ruined everything she cared about. Yet Jaime was heading to that wretched place once more. He always was a shortsighted fool.

 

_I hope the Starks hang him. Or perhaps the Targaryen girl will set her winged beasts on him._

 

Gods know they both had reasons to do it. The bastard king and the dragon whore had accepted his and the Lannister army's help, but she imagined they wouldn't have much use for him without his army. _My army._ And Cersei didn't have use for him anymore either. She had more than enough strength to carry on House Lannister herself. An heir was stirring in her womb now, the future of her house.

 

That was the only thing that truly worried her. The child had to have a father or the people would never accept them as the heir. Before Jaime had betrayed her, she would have gladly married him and made him her consort, taking a page from the Targaryen history book. But now, who would claim the child before the realm? She could conceal her pregnancy for a time and perhaps find a slow-witted lord to marry before the birth, fool him into thinking it was his child. She was well-versed in this matter, after all. And it needn't be a long marriage, with Qyburn’s knowledge of poisons.

 

The queen rubbed her still flat belly and looked out the window at the light snowflakes dancing outside the Red Keep. A strange sight to see King’s Landing frocked in white.

 

_Is it snowing where you are, Brother?_

 

As a young girl, whenever Jaime was away from Casterly Rock for a time doing whatever it is that boys do, she would sit on her balcony looking up at the sky and wonder if it looked the same above Jaime. When it was storming, she imagined that the sky was upset that the twins were apart. When the sun was shining, that meant that Jaime was on his way back to her. What did these snowflakes mean? What was the sky saying about the lions now?

 

_We're the only ones that matter, the only ones in this world._

 

Cersei remembered when Jaime had said those words after he'd brought their daughter back to her in a coffin. She had believed he had meant it; the determination and anger in his voice had made her crave his touch in that moment. But she was foolish for believing him. When had either of her brothers ever truly put House Lannister first? No, Jaime was a selfish man, as most men are. He went north to make his wounded soul feel better, as if it would erase the sins the realm judged him on and wash away his guilt. He was always far too concerned with how people spoke of him.

 

_A lion does not concern himself with the opinions of sheep._

 

Jaime never learned that lesson, no matter how many times their father had repeated it. But Cersei had. Tywin’s daughter was the only one of his children that had heeded all of his lectures, all of his wisdom, yet Jaime was the one that he’d put all of his attention into. And for what? A son who had renounced his claim to Casterly Rock and refused to marry. Cersei knew Jaime had done that for her, so that he could be close to her in King’s Landing and never have to share a bed with any woman but her. It was still stupid and reckless. It left the Lannister name to be carried on by Tyrion, and that would never do. He’d done it for her, at the expense of their family. Never thinking for the future.

 

It didn’t matter now. The only thing that mattered was her child, and eliminating all of the threats to them. The dragon whore, the Stark children, the army of the dead, her brothers. Both of the traitorous fools. Cersei had eradicated nearly every enemy she’d set her mind to destroy: Jon Arryn, Ned Stark, his wife and son, Stannis Baratheon, the Tyrells, the High Sparrow and the Faith Militant, Ellaria Sand. They’d all met their ends by Cersei’s hand, some more directly than others. And her new enemies would follow, she was certain of it.

 

The queen thought back to the intense satisfaction she felt watching the Great Sept of Baelor erupt in green before her eyes, snuffing out the lives of so many who had plotted against her in one fell swoop. She could feel the unnatural heat from the blast even from her balcony atop the Red Keep, the air rushing towards her as if it was the souls of the departed fleeing the carnage. She had smiled at the thought of perfect little Margaery obliterated into nothing, never having to see her smug smile ever again, and the wretched High Sparrow unceremoniously dispatched to the gods he loved so much without time for a prayer. And when Cersei was feeling particularly on edge, she’d remember the Dornish snake she had chained in her dungeons, and she’d be content once more.

 

Cersei had thought that Jaime would be by her side for all her victories as queen, helping her destroy her foes. They had been together their whole lives, they’d sworn they’d never let anything tear them apart. “We belong together, but nobody else understands. Everyone will try to come between us, and I’ll kill them all.” Brave, gallant Jaime had declared to his twin after they had first lain together. Cersei had nearly swooned as the words left his lips. Instead, she had climbed on top of him for another turn.

 

That was something Jaime had frequently told her over the years, and it never failed to make her burn hot for him. But when was the last time he’d said it to her? She couldn’t recall, and was surprised to find that that made her sad. The one person she trusted above all else her whole life had finally abandoned her, like everyone else she had ever loved. At least they had all left her in death, while Jaime chose to turn his back on her while his heart was still beating, the very same heart that had once been so close to her own.

 

_It would be better if he were dead._


End file.
